I believe I know why New Year resolutions usually don‘t work out. It‘s common belief that your New Year resolutions determine the new year. But let me ask you something: Did your resolutions ever work out? Ever? I don‘t think mine ever have and I think that there is a reason to it. Usually, after New Year‘s Eve, we experience the January blues. We are exhausted from celebrating, the weather is shitty as hell, and let‘s be honest, we are all wishing that winter was finally over. Well, here we go. How are we supposed to implement changes in our lives, when we are mostly annoyed with everything, when we are not energetic but instead want to spend our days hiding underneath out blanket?

I am 100% sure that the best time to make changes to your life is now. THIS is the best time to make a change. Not resolutions, change. Let‘s be honest, resolutions don‘t take us anywhere. What we need is a good plan. And spring is just perfect for that.When I realised that spring was approaching, I thought about my current life situation. I didn‘t really enjoy living where I lived anymore, so I decided to move somewhere that‘s perfect for spring and summer. I realised that my post-surgery sports prohibition slowly came to an end (and I knew that I needed a certain day and time to attend as otherwise I wouldn’t go at all), so I booked a Zumba class.

I think that we need to take action when we have that one day where we feel like we want to take action and we have the energy to do it. Spring is not just about the change of the seasons, it‘s the perfect time to make a change for yourself. Your mindset, your habits, your life situation.

Why do I think this is the perfect look to go along with a change? First, the blouse has a business touch. The skirt is fun and creative. The vans and the leather jacket show that you have character and that you are not afraid. What do you think?

Finally I get to tell you a bit about my USA trip. The last weeks were so stressful, I wasn’t able to post on the blog. But better late than never, right?

On my first day in L.A. we did a trip through the streets of Beverly Hills with the most luxurious houses I have ever seen in my life, lines with tall palm trees, the Real Housewives so close. After the minus degrees in Germany I was so glad to be able to catch up some sun. I even got a little bit tan – and that’s got to mean something. I have seen these streets so many times in movies or tv shows that it felt kind of unreal to be there myself.

The perfect start of a wonderful road trip. After one week of L.A. we headed to San Diego, visited the Joshua Tree National Park, the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, a beautiful Airbnb house somewhere in Utah and finally Las Vegas. The wonderful weeks with so many different impressions, many bucket list wishes that we were able to fulfill. We tasted the salty ocean air, walked miles and miles, had to be pulled out of the mud in the middle of a rain storm, won 50 dollars at the Caesars casino in Las Vegas and eventually lost it all. With sun, summer, desert sand in my shoes and a rock from the Grand Canyon in my pocket. And when it was all over I never wanted to leave.

I am happy. Not sure if it’s the warm weather and the fact that I just love spending time outside at the moment, but I’m really happy. I feel like the best season of the year is about to come and many things are currently falling into place. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Monday or a Saturday. There are so many amazing things happening right now, it just makes me super happy and content.

I moved. I already told you guys a little about this on insta stories, but I don’t think I have mentioned it on here (?): I moved. I never really told you guys what area I lived in before, but now that I have moved I think it’s safe to say: I spent 7 months in West Kensington and decided to move very spontaneously. I know, right? Kensington is pretty much the area most people would like to live in, especially tourists love staying there, because it’s super central and the white houses are oh so beautiful. But I personally must say that even though I loved my room, it just wasn’t for me. Now first of all it’s important to understand that Kensington is not everywhere the same. South Ken is probably the most popular part, High Street Kensington is amazing, too, but West Kensington is just super quiet. There is a High Street, but it doesn’t have many shops and the restaurants are only okay in my opinion. But most of all, it’s just an expensive area and that means that there aren’t lots of people my age who live there. It often felt like a ghost town to me, even on Saturdays and I just missed going outside and having an endless amount of restaurants and bars to choose from, and a park that I can spend my free time on now that the warm weather is finally here!

I don’t currently have a phone. And it kills me. On Friday I spilled a whole glass of red wine over my phone and si, since I’ve been without it. I was unable to charge it and therefore brought it to a shop to fix it – fingers crossed it won’t take long. The things I’ve learnt from this so far: I need my phone badly for navigation and I feel SO lost without it, I don’t miss social media (at home I can still access it from my tablet), I need to create a calendar that I can access via my email address.

I’m still struggling with health. At least I feel like I do. I am seeing doctors every week even though it’s been three months since I had surgery. Every week, I feel like finally everything is taken care of and poof, suddenly I either get ill or my doctor calls me to tell me my blood test results were unusual. It’s not cool and I really hope I can get this under control as soon as possible. I don’t want to be scared anymore.

I’m cooking more than ever. I discovered my love for cooking just a couple of weeks ago and I’m not sure why it took so long. Basically, I always had six or seven dishes that I kind of made in a row and I never really tried anything new. Boooring. A couple of weeks ago I decided that I wanted to start new dishes and suddenly I have so many cool things I can cook, I don’t even know where to start.

I’m still not confident enough. I have lived here for 9 full months now and I am still not 100% confident with my language abilities – and it’s annoying! I don’t like going to the pub and not understanding what everyone around me is saying, I don’t like to meet new people who think I’m weird because I cannot say what I want to say and you can literally tell because I am acting like a goddamn weirdo. I guess confidence doesn’t just lie on the street, waiting for you to pick it up. I just need to convince myself to jump in there again and again and again and to never give up.

Don’t let the title of this blog post fool you: I am a Londoner and I am happy with it. The weather in London however hasn’t been the kindest lately and there is no shame in dreaming, right? I really miss the sunshine and hanging out in parks all day, so summer should really hurry up and get here. I love London so much, but the winter here is really hard, with the houses barely heating up due to their old structure and the single glazed windows. It makes me dream of places far, far away and brought back the thought of going to New York. ‘Brought back’? You know what, I’m really glad you asked. Let me start from the beginning.

Some of you might remember that Louisa and I visited New York a couple of years ago. It was early April and the weather had just changed from snow storms two weeks earlier to 20 degrees and sunshine. We were really lucky. Whenever we travel somewhere, we usually rent an Airbnb. I like to pretend that I really moved into the Airbnb flat and imagine what my life could look like. We stayed with a crazy artist in Williamsburg for a little over a week and had the most amazing experience. I loved the architecture, the little coffee shops and the open-minded people. I fell in love with Brooklyn – much more than I did with Manhattan. Still, it was amazing to see all the buildings and the scenery that I had seen so many times in movies.

I thought about moving to Brooklyn for a couple of months before moving to London, to just work a little and explore the city. I never did it because I suddenly had my job offer here in London and I decided to move here right away after finishing my studies. But how cool would it be to live in the city that never sleeps? Picking up my morning latte from one of the hipster coffee shops and spending hours working in Central Park. I would meet my girlfriends for a cosmopolitan after work and eat spaghetti for dinner at a table with a red-and-white-checked tablecloth. I would jump in a yellow cab to get from one appointment to the next and would spend my weekends in art gallery lofts looking at cool paintings. As you can see, I have already figured it all out.

This look was very New York inspired and I hope that you can see that. The dress is actually a really beautiful summer dress (can’t you picture me on a open air rock concert with this, eeh?). My next trip to New York will have to wait a bit, but it’s never to early to start dreaming, right?

After a few weeks of crazy snow storms, daily temperature changes of over 10 degrees and the upcoming thoughts that spring might never actually arrive, we can finally say that it’s here. With the seasons changing, it’s time for another favourites post! I always enjoy writing these posts because they mean change and they are the only time I actually talk about beauty products, too. I would never call myself a beauty expert, but I do feel like four times a year I can share my favourite products with you! Bel Azur by Tory Burch is one of them. The fragrance has only just been launched and I got to try it shortly before it was available for purchase. I love perfume, because each fragrance tells a story. Don’t you immediately get the feeling of being somewhere completely different, when you smell a nice perfume? This is one of them and in fact, I have never received more compliments about any fragrance ever before!

Another favourite of mine: Medium sized and bold coloured cross-body bags. I feel like now that spring is here, I can finally leave my never-full at home and take out one of my lovely cross body bags. I like the medium sized ones the most as they are Handy yet still offer enough space to store the necessities. At the moment I love wearing them in bold colours. As I don’t have lots of different colours in my wardrobe, I think that they make a lovely statement piece to a simple look. My current favourites are my Radley London bag and my fun, yellow one by Joules – the colours brighten up your mood in a heartbeat!

Pink nails. I’ve always been a fan of girly nails and cannot remember the last time they were naked. Now that spring is coming along, I prefer to paint my nails in light, poppy, happy shades. My all time favourite is still the Alessandro Striplac (as mentioned in this blogpost), but currently I am wearing Le Vernis by Chanel.

I wanted to leave my home town for a long time. I was sick of it, sick of the ever same bars and cafes, sick of the mediocrity that was widely accepted within the society, sick of the lack of vision. I was very hard on my hometown. Didn’t understand why over years and years things seemed to stand still. I wanted progress and I felt like Hanover was the last place for progress to happen. It was only just when I left that my view changed a little. Of course, there are still things that I find unbelievable annoying, things I don’t understand and that are still standing still. But there is also another part of the city that I had almost forgotten about: the part of my childhood and the many fond memories I made throughout the years. That feeling of coming home when I drive through the street of my childhood home. The ice cream place we rode our bicycles to every year when the big summer break started. Picking strawberries on a huge strawberry field. All streets covered in white powdery snow. My former ballet studio. A huge piece of pizza. Long walks through the forest with our dogs. A playground. High grown grass and a barbecue by the river. A stargazed night.

These memories are hidden in a far away corner of my mind, but now that I left my hometown they tend to come up every once in a while. When there is a certain smell or at night when I dream. Or when I wake up in the early morning and I have a few minutes of just lying there and letting my mind wander.

What I’m trying to say? I love you, Hannover. I really do. Because I made most of my most precious memories here. Because I love walking your streets and I can now appreciate them much more, even if I decided to live somewhere else. I’ll be back really soon and I can’t wait catching up with all the amazing souls whose home you still are.

// We decided to try out shooting in London’s financial district – how do you like it? I’m very excited to be wearing my new Radley London bag from the Love Me Do collection. Radley is donating 15% of the sale price to the British Heart Foundation.

Ever since I moved to London, my friends and other people I know keep asking me about where to go and what to see when visiting London. All in all, I’ve spent more than one year living here and visited loads, so that I finally feel confident that I know many great places that I can recommend to you. I will not cover breakfast, as I’ve already written a long blog post here. Let’s get started!

Kings Road, West London – Kings Road is definitely my first choice when it comes to shopping. It has the usual must have stores such as Zara and &Other Stories, but also a few independent boutiques. It’s never too crowded so that you can even spend your Saturday afternoon here, shopping and exploring Chelsea. There are a few nice cafes around, beautiful side streets with coloured houses and the Saatchi Gallery which often showcases cool artists.

Covent Garden, Central London – If I decide to do some shopping in Central, this is my place to go. Of course I understand that everyone at some point wants to see Oxford and Regent Street. But this place is just right if you crave a little more space, smaller shops and a higher amount of cafés.

Oxford & Regent Street, Central London – These two streets are filled with tourists. You won’t get around coming here at some point, partly because one of London’s sights – Piccadilly Circus – is just around the corner. I can definitely recommend to visit in the early hours though as queues become longer and longer and any time after 1pm is simply exhausting.

Shoreditch, East London – Shoreditch is the hipster part of London. The high street and Brick Lane have lots of fancy designer boutiques, second hand shops, flea markets and cool restaurants.

Casa Morita, Brixton, South West London – Brixton Village is a must for every foodie out there. Far away from the touristy crowds you will find excellent food for a low amount of money in a rustic atmosphere. This Mexican restaurant is one of the many choices you have. I can highly recommend the caesedillas.

Zizzi, various locations – Mein favourite pizza and pasta restaurant. The pizzas are baked in the stone oven and the dishes are simply amazing.

Dalloway Terrace, Central London – This beautiful restaurant is only a short foot marsh from Oxford Street. The food is not a bargain, but it’s very instagrammable and super delicious.

Sketch, Mayfair, Central London – During the afternoon you can settle down for high tea, in the evening this restaurant serves posh French food. Everything here is unique: Every room has its own topic and in the far back there is a round room with a bar that looks a little like a UFO.Even the toilets are worth visiting, every toilet is in a huge egg and the ladies who keep everything clean, wear a uniform that reminds you of old Disney movies.

Ivy Chelsea Garden, West London – You can see the Ivy from far away due to its beautiful front which is full of flowers during summer and Christmas balls during the winter. Inside you will find high class kitchen, but I like to just come here and have a few drinks together with their fried zucchini. The name already tells: If the temperatures allow it you can enjoy the garden and sit by the fire place.

This is a question I get asked aaaaall the time! By the time I graduated uni, I already had a job secured in my favourite city: London. I made a pretty good catch and am still very happy with my job. Before I’ll start giving any advice to you, please be aware that I believe that London is the most competitive city in Europe when it comes to finding a job, especially for graduates. People from all over the world move here to push their career. I can promise you: It won’t be easy. But you can do it. Because I’ve done it.

Use your time at uni wisely

When it came to studying, I was never one of those people that loved spending time preparing presentations, writing essays and studying for exams. I did what needed to be done and I still managed to get a very good grade. But I couldn’t help feeling that my grades were the least important thing when it came to getting a job. The employers were far more interested in finding out what relevant experience I had. I always had jobs within the field of my studies. This started when I had just begun going to uni. In the beginning, those jobs were unpaid and I was in it for the experience and of course for my CV. After half a year of uni, I had my first paid job in that field. As part of my bachelor degree, I spent six months doing an internship in London. Due to the huge amount of work experience that I had already gained, it was quite easy to find an internship. When I graduated, I didn’t just have a degree, but lots of experience including the internship in London. I think that this was highly beneficial when I finally searched for a graduate job, because it showed that my English was on a good level, that I was organized and that I was determined.

Create an application that stands out

London is highly competitive and the first job after graduating is probably the hardest to find. It gets easier once you have a foot in the door. This means that you will need to do EVERYTHING to stand out. You will need to find a way to create an application that is different to every other. This can be done differently depending on what job and industry you are applying for. I created a video of less than a minute dealing with the question, why I was the right person for the job. Now, the most important thing is not to send out a massive amount of applications. It’s about quality, not quantity. The more applications you send out, the more likely it is for you to make a mistake. For every application, I created a new video. Yes, it was time consuming. But I received a huge amount of positive feedback and invitations to interviews. So it was definitely worth it!

Be well prepared

You’ve been invited to an interview? Congratulations! This however doesn’t mean that you’ve got the job. It only means that you’ll get another chance to prove yourself. I took a lot of time preparing for interviews and I think the most important thing is to familiarize yourself with the company. That way you can get an idea of how they work and what they are looking for. I also think that it’s important to ask questions, so prepare them before attending the interview. Nothing is worse than having to say “I can’t think of any questions right now”, because this means that you simply haven’t spent a minute thinking about the company.

Not long ago there were a few days that made it seem like spring had already arrived in London. We changed our wardrobe from winter coats to spring jackets and enjoyed the warm sunshine outside while sipping on a takeaway coffee. You could wander the streets without freezing and I caught myself thinking that I haven’t appreciated the beautiful architecture lately. It seemed like winter was finally over – but only a few days later, nature showed us what an illusion that thought was. Because suddenly, we were hit by 3 degrees and ice cold wind. I’m not a winter person at all and have reached a state where I find nothing more annoying than my winter coat and winter boots. This is why I am looking forward to spring:

buying peonies and tulips to freshen and brighten up my home – the warm sunshine – taking long walks in the park – wearing lighter clothes and not feeling like my hands will fall off – exploring London, because it’s just not the same when it’s cold – longer days

I haven’t posted anything here for a month. Now I am back with something very important to me: My bucket list for the new year. So far the year has started well and I have many things planned for ten and a half months we have left. Every year I sit down and create a small, personal bucket list with things I want to achieve during the new year or things I want to do and look through the list I made the year before. Here are some of my plans and wishes.

See the Grand Canyon

One of the reasons why this year is going to be wonderful: In March I will travel to Los Angeles and do a road trip to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, one of the big wonders of the nature. It will be my third time in the USA and I look forward to it – right now it still seems sort of surreal that next month I will already be there. This will be one of the most amazing trips for me.

Graduate from University

This summer you will again not hear much from me because it’s finally time: I will start my final graduation exams and hopefully will go on to become a dentist this year. Totally crazy. Seven years have passed since my interview at the University, since I got my acceptance letter, since I set foot into my very first class. Now that it’s almost over I don’t really remember how life was before University. However I look forward to finishing this chapter and start a new chapter of life.

Visit a musical show

Hard to believe but I have only ever been to one single musical show, although I used to dance show dance myself. It was the Lion King in Hamburg and I went with my school class in middle school. I still remember the lights dimming low and the start of the play. This time I’d like to see Dance of the Vampires. It will be a magical night.

Try 30 new dishes

Marietta told you in her last life update blogpost that since January we have to avoid wheat, red meat and all those additives that are bad for your body. At some days the change is still a little hard for me but I love trying out new dishes. I have already cooked a few new ones but want them to become many more. If you know delicious dishes, please let me know!